Kyiv — At least 21 people were killed and 83 injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday morning, according to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. The attack is among the deadliest on Ukraine this year.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the strike, which targeted civilians in the city center. “Only scoundrels can act like this. Taking the lives of ordinary people,” he wrote on social media, sharing footage of the aftermath showing bodies, a destroyed bus, and burnt-out cars.
The strike occurred on Palm Sunday, a significant Christian holiday, which Zelenskiy highlighted as a further affront. “This is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem,” he noted.
Klymenko reported that victims were in the street, in vehicles, on public transport, and inside buildings at the time of the attack. “Deliberate destruction of civilians on an important church feast day,” he stated.
Reuters has requested comment from Russian authorities. Meanwhile, Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, pointed out that the strike followed a visit to Moscow by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
